


Fate's Wristwatch (minsung).

by Emma_fandoms_forever



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Chan takes Jisung under his wing, Crack Treated Seriously, Feel-good, Festivals, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Han Jisung | Han is a Sweetheart, Jisung goes to Spain on an impulse and meets his soulmate in the festival of colours, Kim Woojin Is a Sweetheart, Kissing, M/M, No Angst, No Smut, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, The squad help Jisung look hot for his soulmate lmfao, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's so pretty seriously, minsung - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 14:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emma_fandoms_forever/pseuds/Emma_fandoms_forever
Summary: Soulmate timer AU where Jisung gets the sudden urge to attend the Festival of Colour in Spain and ends up meeting his soulmate there.Lots of fluff and crack! No angst; a purely feel-good fic intended for smiles. <3"With a surprised cry, Jisung lost his footing once and for all as someone else fell into him, and his clock hit zero.Masses of coloured chalk dust filled the air and rained back down upon the two as Jisung blinked, eyes meeting the other’s.His soulmate’s.And Jisung swore he had never seen such beauty."





	Fate's Wristwatch (minsung).

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I've been writing this fic for a while, and today I finally finished it. I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed envisioning and writing it! Happy reading <33

The legend of soulmates went way back.

The concept was simple: everybody was born with a timer in the inside of their wrist; each person’s timer matching up with only one other’s. It was the only thing that had stayed constant since the beginning of time; the only thing on which many could always count on (no pun intended). And many a story could be told of the many unions of the two souls that belonged together, that were finally reunited for life.

Babies would be cradled and whispered to of the sweetness that they, too, would one day know of the feeling of meeting your other half.

Little children would whisper behind their hands to one another under a teacher’s watchful gaze of the stories their parents would tell them as bedtime stories; stories of their own reunions and their families’ too.

Teenagers, where in other areas of life would become sceptical, would begin to be reunited with their mates for life and soulmates would once again, remain the only thing in which many of their beliefs would remain solid and untouched.

And as adulthood approached, more and more would finally be reunited; as infinite amounts of stories and memories were created and passed down to children and grand-children and nieces and nephews to be told with life and vigour.

Tales of people suddenly changing and crazily travelling halfway around the world became the norm as people found their soulmates in different continents and countries and rearranged their whole lives to fit their newfound lover.

Through every generation of life, soulmates were a treasured and beautiful concept.

.

.

.

Han Jisung stared at the timer built into his wrist.

 _341 hours,_ it reads. _21 minutes and 8 seconds._ And counting.

Just over fourteen days. A little more than two weeks before he met his soulmate.

The outline of the clock, where the glass met the soft skin of Jisung’s inner wrist, was stained a deep maroon colour. The colour outlining your soulmate clock was meant to be the first colour you’d see upon meeting your soulmate. Jisung had never really got how that really worked, as you were always surrounded by so many colours at once, but nevertheless, he was definitely curious as to how he would end up seeing such a colour. Maybe it was on a shop front, or maybe his soulmate had really cool dyed hair.

Sighing, Jisung stared up into the darkening skyline of Seoul from his windowsill. It was gorgeous, the yellow lights spilling cosy vibes onto the streets below and reflecting off the many puddles that had collected due to that day’s rainfall. From Jisung’s high-up view from his apartment flat the twentieth floor up, he could make out dotted umbrellas moving at their own paces as the rain started to fall again, the people below shielded safely from the impending droplets. Some had got to be soulmates; some just friends. Families and couples and groups of colleagues, best friends, new friends. Each one with a different story and plot of their own, each one the protagonist in their own lives.

“Jisung. _Jisung,_ ” Woojin complained from behind him, too lazy to get up off the couch and gain his attention physically. “Earth to Jisung.”

"What? Sorry hyung, I spaced out a little,” came the sheepish reply as Jisung tore his gaze away from the streets so far below them and gave his hyung his full attention.

“A little is definitely an understatement, but by all means, go off,” Woojin teased him warmly. “I was asking if you were hungry. It’s late and you haven’t eaten since breakfast, I know that for a fact.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jisung started, before his growling stomach answered with him loudly, prompting laughter from the two roommates. “Yes, I’m starving.”

“Well, I’ll order takeout as it’s easiest, just this once,” Woojin revealed, and Jisung whooped happily. Once Woojin dialled the number for their takeaway on his phone and left the room to place their order, Jisung looked down at his wrist once more, watching the seconds slowly tick away, letting go one by one.

_314 hours, 17 minutes and 54 seconds._

Well, what will be, will be; and what won’t be, will not be willed by fate. That was Jisung’s philosophy, of which he loved repeating to his friends solely to confuse them with the stark amount of ‘will’s and ‘won’t’s.

“Yah, I’m back,” Woojin crept back into the room, his presence calming as usual. “The delivery will be here in a little under twenty minutes, they said.”

“Ah, _good_ ,” Jisung jumped onto the couch stomach first and curled up dramatically. “I think my stomach is about to eat itself if it doesn’t get food soon.”

“That’s biologically impossible, but cool,” Woojin snickered.

“Hyung,” Jisung said suddenly, sitting up with force. “I’ve no clue where this is coming from, but… I think I want to go away for a bit.”

“Go away? Where to?” Woojin’s brow furrowed, _mom mode activate._

“I really don’t know, hyung. I’ve literally just thought of it now, but… something’s telling me to.”

Woojin’s face cleared and his eyes took on a dreamy demeanour. “How long does your soulmate clock have, again?”

“Fourteen days.”

“Fate, plain and simple,” Woojin said confidently.

“I don’t know about that,” Jisung rushed to defend himself. “I think I’ll only be gone for a week. It’s mostly only due to stress; I’ve not taken a break in months. Why not now? I’ll only be gone a week, and then I’ll be back with a few days to go until I meet my soulmate.”

“Whatever makes you happy, Jisung,” Woojin sparkled. “Just make sure to call me at least once a day and keep me updated.”

Jisung blinked, surprised out of his mind that Woojin hadn’t tried harder to stop him from going, or at least suggested that he himself accompany Jisung.

“What, no safety lecture? No eomma mode? Just an ‘okay and keep me updated’ single sentence?”

Woojin nodded simply. “Yep. I still think that this is fate, not gonna lie. Things will pan out as your destiny will decide, so this time you get off easy,” he laughed as he finished his sentence. “But seriously, do not go a day without calling me and updating me. I’ll get lonely here without my best friend.”

Jisung jumped up and threw his arms around Woojin affectionately. “Thank you, hyung,” he mumbled, even though theoretically, Woojin would never have been able to stop him if he set his mind to anything. “I’ll call you every day and spam you with pictures. You’ll be wishing I’d leave you alone by the end of it.”

“I would never,” Woojin stroked Jisung’s hair affectionately. “Now, we gotta figure out where you want to go, for approximately how long, which hotel, et cetera, and notify your managers and try to get them to let you go.”

Jisung winced. “Aish, I’d forgotten about the managers.”

“Let me handle them. I’ll milk the whole soulmate thing for you.”

“Thanks, hyung.”

It was then that the buzzer went off, signifying the takeaway delivery being outside and needing to be allowed up into the twentieth floor. Woojin went down to collect it and Jisung busied himself with pulling out two plates and some chopsticks, racking his brains for a list of possible TV series or movies to watch as they ate. Something they had seen before, so they could focus on Jisung’s getaway for a while of it.

“Chicken!” Woojin screamed as he barrelled back into the apartment, two plastic bags in hand. “Outta my way, this chicken is calling my whole name right now.”

Jisung laughed and handed Woojin a plate, watching the other waste no time in digging in with enthusiasm and almost spilling the chicken based dish over himself in his haste.

“Chicken will probably be the death of you, hyung.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if my soulmate were a piece of chicken, not gonna lie,” Woojin said through his mouthful of the stuff. “I’d eat my soulmate on the spot if they were some chicken.”

The two ploughed their way through their food, having ordered way too much for just the two of them but determinedly eating all of it until they felt they could move no more.

“We always do this,” Jisung groaned, sprawled out on the floor rubbing his overly full stomach.

“It’s worth it every time, though, you can’t lie,” Woojin added, stretching his arms to the point of pain to be able to reach his discarded laptop and drag it closer to him with his fingertips. “Now, to the matter at hand. Where are you thinking of travelling to?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. Somewhere colourful, probably,” Jisung thought aloud. “Blue skies and flower blossoms. Warm colour schemes, like reds, oranges, greens.”

“Poetic,” Woojin teased. “So somewhere hot by the sounds of it?”

“Hot but not the beach,” Jisung agreed. “Not the beach this time. I like the idea of lots of trees and rivers and markets.”

“Hot but not the beach and images of colour and vibrancy… so, festivals? Somewhere like India?”

“Not India. I feel like the language barrier would be too big.”

“Germany has Oktoberfest, but that’s in September.”

“I know zero German at all.”

“Listen to your heart, Sungie. Where is it telling you to go?”

Jisung thought for a moment, taking a deep breath in and letting the country name roll off his tongue.

“Spain.”

“Spain? You know no Spanish.”

“You told me to listen to my heart. Besides, people speak English in Spain. I’m more or less fluent in that…”

“Ok, fine. Spain it is, so I’m gonna google to see if there are any Spanish festivals this month, preferably within two weeks,” Woojin suggested, earning an approving nod from Jisung, who dragged himself up from the floor and plopped heavily onto the couch to snuggle up and gaze over Woojin’s shoulder at the screen.

“Okay, so festivals in July… in Spain,” Woojin said aloud as he typed. “Very specific. Let’s see what’s happening.”

“The festival of colour…” Jisung murmured as he saw the name. “What’s that?”

Woojin clicked on an article and instantly, Jisung’s eyes were met with images of chalky dust in every colour being thrown into the air by crowds of people, every one of them smiling and laughing. Some were by landmarks, others in streets and market places, but Jisung was weirdly drawn to the idea of attending one.

“Apparently it originated in India, but as you have less interest in there, let’s not delve into there. It’s branched out and now is celebrated in Spain too, for your luck,” Woojin informed Jisung as his eyes continued skimming the pictures pasted at the top of the website.

“Ooh, there’s a video link.”

_Click._

Loud music filled the room and video footage of green hills, exotic birds and laughing people were shown onscreen. Coloured dust thrown miscellaneously into the air, everybody wearing colourful fabrics and eating foreign foods that just looking at made Jisung’s mouth water despite his full stomach.

“Wow,” Woojin said loudly.

“Oh _hell_ yes,” Jisung exclaimed. “I like that a _lot_.”

“If you like that, we’ll definitely work something out. Do you want to stay in the centre of the action or somewhere a little further away?”

“You’re such an eomma, hyung. Thank you. I think in the centre of it, I wanna immerse myself in everything,” Jisung said.

“Centre of the action it is,” Woojin repeated, mostly to himself as he clicked on a new website. “Hotel or apartment?”

“Hotel, probably. I like the idea of not having to make breakfast for myself,” Jisung laughed.

“Okay, got it…”

Jisung closed his eyes and let himself wait for a few minutes, before Woojin let out a triumphant gasp and tapped Jisung’s nose. “Yah, look at this. What do you think?”

Jisung’s eyes flew open and he stared at the pictures in front of him. A hotel outside the city centre, painted a warm orange and harbouring quite a few rooms with flowers in the windowsills. The lobby was very open and mostly connected to the open air, walls curving upwards to make room for the sky and open air surrounding whilst the first floor sheltered the small tables that Jisung guessed the guests would eat at.

“It looks… so cool,” Jisung breathed.

“That’s a yes for this guesthouse then? Breakfast is included,” Woojin stated.

“Definitely. It looks perfect.”

“Okay, and for how long shall you be staying, good sir?” Woojin tried to make his accent British and posh.

“Ok, first of all, how are you even trying to speak Korean in a British accent? Is that possible?” Jisung laughed in good humour. “And secondly… hmmm. About a week? Let’s say a week.”

“You sure? Your soulmate could be there, the country name came straight from your soul-“

“My brain, Jinnie, my brain. And yes, I’m sure. If I’m ‘destined’ to find my soulmate there, as you think I am, then something will come up and cause me to stay. If something comes up I’ll stay for another week, okay?”

Woojin considered, and his expression lightened. “Okay, good enough for me.”

“Ok, so a week’s stay, give or take, in this Spanish guesthouse for the Festival of Colours,” Woojin repeated every detail. “Single or double bed?”

“Double. I like having space to sleep like a starfish,” Jisung giggled.

“Double room it is. 436,000 won per night,” Woojin glanced at Jisung, careful to gauge his reaction. “That sound okay?”

“Eh, I can afford it, god knows my job pays well,” Jisung nodded shyly, not very fond of talking about how much he earned even though he knew Woojin knew full well how much he earned, and earned around the same himself.

“You’ll have to change the won to euros, to pay for the room and anything else you’ll need, like snacks and food money and other little things you’ll want,” Woojin informed him. “So you’ll need at least 5000 euros, just to be safe, to cover two weeks. That’s just for the hotel pay, though.”

“Well, luckily for me, I got my pay last week and have a lot of savings,” Jisung said simply. “I’ll be fine. Thank whichever higher powers that are out there for my luck and this job.”

“Okay. So you want me to book it for you?”

“Yes please, hyung. My card details are still on your laptop from when I ordered that hoodie a few months ago.”

Jisung felt the first threads of excitement begin to stir inside him as he began to internally plan what he’d take; what he’d want to see; who he could potentially meet.

“All done,” Woojin finalised, shutting his laptop and pushing it off his lap. “Last things last, we call our manager and let them know you’ll be gone for a while after Wednesday.”

“Thank you so much, hyung!” Jisung squeaked, throwing his arms around the elder.

“No thanking just yet,” came the warning, “our manager could put his foot down and prevent you from going. Now, shoo. Go hide in your room or something whilst I cajole him,” Woojin ordered, and who was Jisung to disobey?

So Jisung waited. He sat, and stared into space, and waited patiently for five, ten, fifteen minutes. It was nearing the twenty minute mark when Woojin waltzed back into his room, grinning like the cat that got the cream.

“Guess whose favourite hyung just got you two whole weeks off work on full pay?” Woojin sang, pointing to himself with a flourish and mock-sexy pose.

“Full pay?” Jisung shrieked. “Two weeks?”

“Yes and yes,” Woojin screeched back, excitement filling the room.

“Hyung, I _love you_ ,” Jisung sprinted at him and jumped into Woojin’s waiting arms, wrapping his legs around his waist in joy.

“Anything for my platonic soulmate,” Woojin’s eyes twinkled. “Now, let’s see where this trip takes you, yah? You might be finding your real soulmate somewhere along the way.”

“I hope I do,” Jisung fessed, still clinging to the elder. “Thank you, hyung, really.”

“Anything for my best friend with spontaneous ideas. What kind of best friend would _I_ be if I didn’t go along with your crazy ideas?”

***

Before Jisung even processed his sudden decision to up and leave to _Spain_ of all places for the next foreseeable week and possibly two weeks, Wednesday had arrived, his suitcase was packed, and Woojin was driving him to the airport at daft o’clock in the morning.

“Remember, call me every day, send me photos and videos of what you’ve been up to, and if something comes up to prevent you coming home, _don’t fight it_ and stay, it’ll be the universe pushing you towards your destiny,” Woojin was saying for the fifth time in two hours. Jisung had practically memorised this speech in his head by now and was nodding mindlessly along to it, one earphone hooked into his ear and playing quiet music as their hired car zoomed through the empty, still dark roads.

“I will, hyung, I promise. I know this was the most risky and spontaneous thing I’ve ever done but I truly will miss you every day,” he replied truthfully, feeling genuinely sad at the prospect of not seeing his hyung for a week. Since the two had started sharing an apartment at the beginning of Uni and hadn’t stopped since, which was five years ago; five years of shared hardships and laughter, passing their final exams and getting their dream jobs at the same company, the longest they’d ever gone without seeing one another for in the past was for around two weeks, when they’d go home to visit their families. Even so, it always left a gap in each other’s lives to not have their best friend by their sides.

“Keep me updated on your life too, Jinnie. I don’t wanna miss a thing,” Jisung pleaded. Woojin smiled, taking one hand off the steering wheel to poke Jisung in the cheek roughly.

“I will, don’t worry. Now come on, we’re here, gather your stuff.”

For the first time, Jisung felt a jump of nerves as he gathered his backpack and got out of the car to collect his suitcase from the boot.

This was really happening.

_216 hours, three minutes and seven seconds._

As Woojin walked Jisung into the airport to check his suitcase in, he never left his side, for which Jisung was immensely grateful. But when it was time to go up and get security checked, Woojin had to leave, as he was not going through any checks for flight himself.

“Okay, this is it,” Woojin announced quietly, pulling Jisung in for a warm hug that was gratefully reciprocated. “I obviously can’t come any further. Take care, and good luck. I’m only ever a phone call away… and actually, phone me when you’re through the security checks if you’re feeling lonely or anything. I can put you on speaker as I drive.”

“I will, hyung. Thank you. For everything. And text me when you get home, so I know you got back safely. Try not to miss me too much,” Jisung pulled back from the hug and winked, wanting to lighten the mood. As sad as it was, he was only going to be without his best friend for a week or so. They’d be back with each other in no time.

“Aish, you. It’ll be you missing me, not the other way around,” Woojin teased back, giving his shoulder a light shove. “Go. Get checked by a hot security guard and then go buy some breakfast. I’ll see you soon, and good luck.”

“See you soon, hyung,” Jisung waved as both backed away from each other and walked their separate ways.

Jisung inserted both earbuds as soon as Woojin was out of sight, wanting a distraction from the sudden loneliness he was feeling and instead concentrating on the excitement of attending the impending festival. Feeling an involuntary smile grace his lips, he allowed himself a skip in his step as he joined the slowly moving queue for security checks and sniggered to himself when he saw that there were no ‘hot’ security guards, nut instead an elderly man and some middle-aged women that honestly, just looked like soccer moms in disguise.

He was honestly surprised at how fast the queue had moved, and managed to get past the metal detectors without having to be physically checked, which had happened to him on his first time flying, which had been kind of intimidating. Either way, he took his hand luggage rightfully back and walked around the corner of the hall and down some steps to the shops, where he wasted away the next hour and a half wandering aimlessly around the shops there, buying himself a bottle of water and realising at the last minute that he would need an adapter plug to be able to charge his phone. Thank god he found a certain shop selling them for much cheaper than the other, overpriced shops. He would have been dead without a way to contact Woojin; his friend would completely freak out after one day.

Twenty minutes until the flight and Jisung felt his phone buzz; he took it out to see a cheerful message from Woojin notifying him that he had gotten home safely and was okay. _Did you eat breakfast?_ It also asked, to which Jisung truthfully answered that no, he was going to wait and order something on the plane.

Fifteen minutes until the flight and Jisung was safely seated next to the window, buckled in and next to two giggling girls that were sharing videos with each other via their phones and taking selfies with intertwined hands. A quick glance told Jisung that they had both found their soulmates, judging by the timed-out clocks on both of their wrists. Perhaps they were each other’s soulmates, who knows.

Jisung ended up sleeping for most of the flight, the feeling of being so high up in the air always having relaxed him from his first time flying, and he cherished the thirty hour flight, spending as much time with his eyes closed as possible, and only properly opened his eyes to the sound of the overhead intercom notifying the passengers that they would be _landing soon, so please fasten up your seatbelts._

Once they had landed, Jisung took his phone off flight mode and was greeted by several texts; some from Woojin rambling about how he had almost collided with a cat sitting on a bin on his way to work, one each from his other friends, Changbin and Jeongin wishing him a safe flight and one from his phone service carrier informing him, _Welcome to Spain! The time here is 11:47 am, as now displayed on your usual screen. Messages and calls will cost no more than your usual charge at home. Enjoy your stay!_

That was all, until… oh, wait. That wasn’t it.

A sudden influx of spam from another one of his close friends, Hwang Hyunjin, suddenly attacked his phone, leaving it vibrating for a solid thirty seconds before it finally stopped. Jisung chuckled to himself as he received a lot of ‘go get some soulmate dick or whatever’ and ‘don’t die on the way there’s from his friend and messaged back with the same enthusiasm.

Hopping on the bus that would take him away from the airport and towards his guesthouse in the city centre, Jisung pressed play on the Spanish-vibe-themed playlist he had created on his phone- don’t judge him, he wanted to really get into the Spanish, feisty _mood-_ and his eyes widened as he turned his head out of the window and took in all the _colours_.

Preparations for the festivals were well underway as the streets were lined with red and orange bunting, purple and blue flowers; robes of every colour fell in silky waved down bodies and even the air seemed to carry a colourful quality of its own. Jisung sighed in exhilaration as he rested his forehead against the window, taking as much in as he could manage despite the fact that he had a week to memorise and photograph every sight.

Soon enough, the coach was stopping and Jisung disconnected his forehead from the glass, grimacing slightly at the mark he had made and moving to wipe it with his sleeve and hoping no one had seen. Collecting his bags, he waddled awkwardly off the coach among the thirty or so other tourists that had got off too and immediately spotted his guesthouse across the street, so he started to walk over, before mentally face-palming as he realised he’d almost walked off without his suitcase, of all things.

Well done, Jisung.

Anyway.

Pulling his suitcase behind him and balancing his backpack on one arm, Jisung entered the unsheltered lobby and inhaled the scent of the many, many flowers. He jumped almost out of his skin as he was greeted with cheery, fluent Spanish.

“Oh, oh, um… do you speak English?” he mumbled apologetically, offering a shy smile to the smiling elderly woman checking him in. Her smile widened, much to Jisung’s relief, and she switched languages like the click of a button.

“Hello, dear. Are you checking in?” she repeated.

“Yes, I am. I’m booked in for suite 12,” Jisung explained.

“Ah, one second,” she responded, squinting to look at the computer screen in front of her. “Where are you from?” she asked offhandedly, filling the slightly awkward silence that had filled the atmosphere.

“Korea,” Jisung cringed at his accent when speaking English.

“Ah, Korea,” came the reply. “We have quite a few Koreans here, surprisingly. Most Koreans here have lived here all their lives, but as their parents speak Korean too, they’re fluent. It surprises me how many are multilingual; you’ll be fine communication-wise, don’t you worry. Now, here’s your room key.” She handed it over the desk to Jisung with another warm smile and a gentle pat to his cheek. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to find me, okay? Or any of the staff here… wait, actually, one should be around here somewhere- he’s Korean, too.”

Jisung blinked in pleasantly surprised shock. This, he was not expecting.

“CHAN!”

Jisung jumped out of his skin for the second time that day. A slightly unkempt man barrelled into the lobby from god-knows-where, almost knocking down a plant pot in his haste and running a hand through his blond curls as he grinned sheepishly at the woman.

“Si?”

“This is Jisung. He’s Korean.”

Chan turned to Jisung livelily. “Hey, Jisung! I’m Chan,” Chan introduced himself with a handshake and a twinkle in his eye, in fluent Korean. “Want me to show you around?”

“S-Sure, if it’s no problem,” Jisung stuttered. He hadn’t been expecting this so quickly, hence his temporary nerves, but he definitely was not complaining by any means.

“Great! Let’s get you settled in first, then I’ll introduce you to some friends of mine so you’ll have multiple people to hang out with if you feel lonely. Then we can go and show you around the city!”

Jisung grinned widely, agreeing without any persuasion at all. Woojin would be proud.

Soon he had his suitcase unpacked with the friendly and willing help of Chan, and was being lead cheerfully into the town centre by said elder. He’d texted his ‘friends’ in advance and wanted them to meet them both in some place that Jisung didn’t quite catch through the mess of Spanish mixed with Korean.

“Yah! Felix, Seungmin!” Chan suddenly yelled, waving his arms around as two boys, one freckled and one honey-tanned, turned in unison and sprinted over to Chan and Jisung, uncaring of the startled looks they got of some tourists.

“Hey, Chan! Is this the tourist you told us about over text?” one of the boys, the one with brown hair said, looking curiously at Jisung.

“Yep, sure is. Felix, Seungmin, this is Jisung. Jisung, these are Felix and Seungmin.”

“Hey! I’m Felix, do you like video games?” Felix wasted no time in grabbing Jisung into a warm hug of greeting and getting straight into basics.

“Um… I’ve never had too much time to play them, if I’m honest. Which ones?” Jisung wracked his brains for any name of any video game at all to talk about.

“ _Never?_ ” Felix looked absolutely scandalised. “This has to be amended. Not even Mario Cart?”

“What’s that?”

Felix gasped dramatically, pretending to faint onto Seungmin, who stepped back and let him fall to the ground, smirking.

“Ow!”

“Never trust anybody, loser,” Seungmin cackled, before stepping over Felix’s body and greeting Jisung formally. “Kim Seungmin, nice to meet you.”

“Han Jisung, nice to meet you too.”

Seungmin’s eyes wandered over to Jisung’s wrist of their own accord as they scanned the countdown.

“Two weeks until you meet your soulmate? Is that why you’re here, to find your soulmate? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

“My best friend Woojin seems to think so,” Jisung laughed openly. “I suddenly wanted to come here out of nowhere, and he made me swear that if anything came up to make me stay, even the smallest thing, until the time that my soul clock ran out, to not fight it and stay. He’s such an eomma figure.”

“I agree with your friend,” Chan chimed in. “It’s fate and destiny that you’re here, in my opinion.”

“That’s what he was saying!” Jisung exclaimed. “Speaking of Woojin, could I possibly take a picture of you guys? I’m keeping him updated and he’ll be positively shocked that I’ve found friends already.”

“Of course!” Felix confirmed. “You get in too, our first selfie!”

“You’re lame,” Seungmin teased Felix.

“Their friendship is very… savage, to say the least. But it’s how they show each other they love each other,” Chan whispered to Jisung, who nodded and asked if they were soulmates.

“No, but platonic soulmates? I have no doubt.”

“Like Woojin hyung and I!”

“CHEESE!” Felix yelled, baring his teeth in a bear-like growl before Jisung had even unlocked his phone.

“So eager,” he snickered, holding the phone up and snapping a shot of the four of them with equally silly looks on their faces. Jisung grinned and sent the picture to Woojin, captioned ‘found these crackheads on the street. They’re funny.’

“You didn’t find me on the street!” Chan exclaimed, scandalised. “I found you!”

“I was deposited onto you by the receptionist,” Jisung defended.

“Crackhead? Definitely,” Felix confirmed. “Not the drug. Just the madness.”

 **Woojin:** oooooh blonde curl boi is hot

“Woojin thinks you’re hot,” Jisung informed Chan.

“Who wouldn’t?” Chan body-rolled mockingly.

“Me,” Jisung, Felix and Seungmin deadpanned at the same time.

 **Jisung:** I told him u said that lmao. Exposed

 **Woojin:** hhhhhhhh no stfu I have a soulmate

 **Jisung:** could be your soulmate, u never know bitch

 **Woojin:** focus on ur own soulmate first, steady on squirrel

“So what does this Woojin hyung himself look like, out of curiosity?” Chan enquired. Jisung grinned mischievously and pulled up a very unflattering, low quality photo of Woojin squatting on the floor, screaming at a small piece of chicken on the floor. Chan’s posture broke and he snorted loudly.

“Is that… a mangled piece of chicken?” Felix’s puzzled voice resounded over Jisung’s shoulder.

“It most certainly is,” Jisung confirmed.

“Well then what’s that thing it’s looking at on the floor?” came the savage reply from Seungmin.

“ROASTED,” hollered Chan.

***

The week continued to progress just like this; Jisung feeling in the utmost comfort around his newly-acquired friends and found himself wishing he could bring them back to Korea with him when the time for him to leave came.

With his life suddenly full of heat, colour, new sights and tastes and new friends, his happiness levels soared to new levels that he had never felt before.

_144 hours, seven minutes, six seconds._

Each day he would find new flowers, eat new food, hear new music, feel new fabrics. Jisung found new inspiration for his song writing and producing, and fell into an unexpected routine with Chan, Felix and Seungmin, where they would meet each other at the guest house every morning to eat breakfast together before spending the whole day with each other, inseparable as the three locals showed Jisung both the most popular sights and the rarities that only locals would know about.

_120 hours, forty-seven minutes. Thirty-two seconds._

He sent Woojin daily updates and pictures, with the occasional video attachment, and found time to video call him every day despite the sixteen hour time difference.

_96 hours, fifty minutes and one second._

As the week drew to an end, Jisung was curled up beside Felix, tracing lazy patterns into his arms as he daydreamed. The younger had several bright flowers weaved into his hair, given to him by a passing child with a bright smile and armful of plants.

“The week’s almost over, Sungie. D’ya think anything will come up to prevent you from leaving?” Felix mumbled sleepily, the Spanish heat getting to them in the hours of the daily siesta.

“Not gonna lie, I hope so. I don’t want to leave you guys just yet, as much as I miss Woojin-hyung,” Jisung confessed. “I’ve been thinking a lot whilst I’ve been here and, not to get my hopes up, but there’s three days until I find my soulmate, and it was really unlike me to just up and leave out of nowhere. I hope that what Woojin-hyung said about fate was right."

“I feel it might be,” Chan chimed in, vice rising with every syllable in his excitement as he stared at his phone with a growing grin. “It’s hella stormy over the European route, so there’s a huge chance that flights will be cancelled.”

“Really?” Jisung asked, dumbfounded, as he, too, whipped his phone out to check. “Oh my god. What if it really will happen here?”

“Then it happens, and we are gonna prepare you for your big day,” Seungmin announced proudly. “But we have to wait and see if your flight is cancelled first.”

“I’m calling hyung,” Jisung proclaimed, lifting his phone to his ear in a second. To his surprise, Woojin picked up within the first two trills.

“Jisung, there are storms brewing around Romania and Italy,” was the first thing squealed down Jisung’s ear through his phone. “This is a sign. Stay put, little squirrel.”

“Nice to hear from you, too, hyung,” Jisung felt Felix laughing beside him, having obviously overheard the outburst. “Although that was the reason for my call anyway…”

“It’s risky for you to come back even if the flights aren’t cancelled,” Woojin fussed. “Either way, stay in Spain. If it’s not meant to happen in Spain, the universe will find another way. You have, what, three days left until you find them?”

“Two days, twenty three hours, four minutes and counting,” Jisung recounted teasingly. “And aren’t you excited, too, hyung? Isn’t your timer nearing its end too?”

“Aish, I have three months yet, no use doing anything for now,” was the relaxed answer.

“Don’t speak too soon.”

The call ended soon after, with a promise from Jisung to keep Woojin posted and not to let him miss out on anything. Jisung tucked his phone back away and gazed up at the ceiling of his guest room that himself, Chan, Felix and Seungmin were all piled into.

“I’m gonna help you look your absolute _cutest_ on the day you meet your soulmate, Jisungie,” Felix booped Jisung’s nose. “If they weren’t automatically going to fall in love with you on the spot, they definitely will by the time we’re finished with you.”

“That sounds threatening.”

“A loving threat.”

Jisung rolled his eyes.

***

_Five hours, three minutes, fifty-seven seconds._

And that time was rapidly decreasing. Along with the battery in his phone, too, as his friends from Korea bombarded his phone with block-capital texts of ‘TODAY’S THE DAY!’, ‘GOOD LUCK’s and everything along those lines anyone could possibly think of. Even Jisung’s boss, who was usually very distant and stoic, had sent him a warm message of well-wishing.

“RISE AND SHINE, MOTHERFUCKER,” Felix yelled eloquently as he barrelled through the doorframe into Jisung’s room.

“You are aware that there are other guests here, Lix?” came the frustrated voice of Chan from further down the corridor.

“They aren’t meeting their soulmate in-“Felix picked up Jisung’s wrist to inspect his timer- “five hours and one minute, so shut the hell up and help me.”

“Three, two, one, FOUR HOURS ARE A GO!” Seungmin shrieked, popping his head out from beneath Jisung’s bed. Jisung screamed loudly. How the fuck did he get there?

“Jisung, get out of bed and into that shower,” Felix ordered, shaking slightly from trying to mask his giggles.

“Ten more minutes of sleep won’t hurt,” Jisung protested, trying to appeal Felix into appeasing by attempting to lure him under the covers with him too. He knew he wouldn’t sleep at all- he had spent the night tossing and turning with nerves- but it was nice to lay and wake up slowly and naturally.

He closed his eyes again and grinned when he felt Felix give in and climb in beside him with a murmur of “next time this will be your soouuulllmate~.”

Jisung sighed happily and let the warm arms of sleep (and Felix) envelope him into unconsciousness.

.

.

.

“SIKE, BITCH, WAKE THE FUCK UP!”

_It’s gonna be a long four hours._

These four hours were spent with an _immensely_ energetic Felix, Chan and Seungmin physically bundling Jisung into the shower, out of the shower, back _into_ the shower because “you still have a bit of shampoo in your hair, Sung!”; before everyone’s mentality did a complete one-eighty as Chan produced a bottle of blue hair dye out of nowhere and, with three hours to go, Jisung was pushed back onto the bed, adrenaline pumping as three different pairs of hands attacked his hair with vigour.

“You’re gonna look so hot,” Felix gushed.

“Your soulmate is gonna wanna nom on those locks all day,” Seungmin cackled. Chan snorted.

“Since when did we all turn into a group of white girls in a cliché movie?”

“Shut the heck your mouth, Chan, or I’ll turn you into a white girl in a cliché movie.”

***

Roughly two hours later and Jisung was feeling antsier than he had ever felt in his life. And he would know about antsiness; he was the king of nervousness and ants.

“ONE HOUR TO GO, SUNGGGG,” Chan hollered, jumping onto Jisung from where he was anxiously studying himself in the mirror. He was now dressed in a simple black and white striped top and a light denim jacket paired with black ripped jeans. His sleeves were rolled up so he had easy access to his soulmate timer and his freshly dyed and styled hair looked, in a word, _hot_.

_Fifty-five minutes, three seconds._

“You good?”

Jisung shook himself out of his reverie. “Never better, just nervous,” he answered honestly, laughing a little. “I wanna go outside. Can we go join the festival celebrations again?”

Chan gave him a knowing look. “Let’s go, everyone.”

And so they all piled chaotically outside of the orange hotel and plunged as one into the mass of bodies pooling together in the festival waves. Felix, Seungmin and Chan each bought an item of food; Jisung passed on the offer due to the butterflies swarming in his stomach.

“Sungie, look! There’s a dance circle!”

Jisung felt himself being dragged over to an immense circle of bodies moving in an elaborately specific dance to cultural music. Seungmin squeaked in surprise from where he was standing behind Jisung as people passed by throwing multitudes of brightly coloured flowers over everybody’s heads. Blinking in mild surprise, Jisung found his hair and shoulders full of pink, orange, green and yellow petals.

“Oh my goodness, guys! There’s chalk dust!” Chan called, bounding over to a stall like an excitable puppy. Swiftly purchasing multiple of the small woven baskets full of bright colours, Chan wove his way back through the mass of bodies and handed a basket to everyone.

“Let’s get _colourful!_ ” he yelled.

Jisung beamed and took out his camera from where he had it hanging around his neck, taking multiple shots of Chan and Seungmin with their arms around each other as they violently rubbed the colourful dust into each other’s scalps, _“Scalp massage, Chrispy!”,_ and others of Felix throwing the powder into the air as high up as he could manage with an extra-loud ‘YEET!’ and the widest, most content smile Jisung had ever seen him wear. It was safe to say that each of them was fully immersed in their element.

Jisung fully planned on printing these photos onto canvas once he returned home and hanging them on every wall he had in his apartment.

Awestruck by the beauty and music completely ensnaring his senses, Jisung took in a deep, gratifying breath in and let himself be consumed by his surroundings; the dancing; people sat on walls and in open cafes on street corners sipping colourful drinks; bands perched on festival floats playing original, cultural and happy music; everyone around him laughing and smiling and no a frown being in sight.

_Six minutes._

Jisung’s eyes fixated on fragmented parts in his line of vision; Felix trying (trying being the key word here) to pick Seungmin up and whirl him around in the air; a long-haired woman in brightly patterned attire with her skin decorated in beautiful henna tattoos spinning in circles with her skirt billowing out around her; a child biting into a yellow-iced cupcake and inevitably getting some icing on their nose as they did so.

Wandering dazedly around, Jisung allowed his head to fall back and his feet to spin him in a slow, lazy circle as freedom coursed through his veins; mixed with an inkling of the beginning of nerves.

_What will my soulmate be like? Male or female? Other? Nationality? What if I don’t know their language? What if they look at me and are disappointed? What if-_

All of a sudden, Jisung felt a tug in his chest and he stopped his observations, smile dropping form his face as his heart thudded. Something within him was _pulling_ him in another direction, so he followed the feeling, his feet moving all on their own accord. Jisung’s breathing quickened; the music playing now too loud; the swell of people stifling and seeming like endless obstacles preventing him from embarking on this journey towards… somewhere. To his right, someone fell into him and he yelped, though now he found that he simply could not stop his feet from moving in the direction of his heart.

And little did he know, someone else, whom he did not yet know, but was _very_ special to him all the same, was experiencing strikingly similar things.

_Thirty seconds._

Jisung stumbled a little due to an accidental and unexpected push from behind him; took a sharp turn as he followed his soul’s directions and almost fell head-first into a fountain before he righted himself and carried on walking in haste. Jisung was thanking his lucky stars that he hadn’t yet fallen into anyone when-

Never mind.

With a surprised cry, Jisung lost his footing once and for all as someone _else_ fell into _him,_ and his clock hit zero.

Masses of maroon coloured chalk dust, not unlike the colour of Jisung's soulmate timer, filled the air and rained back down upon the two as Jisung blinked, eyes meeting the other’s.

His _soulmate’s._

And Jisung swore he had never seen such beauty.

Light purple hair, obviously dyed but still looking so irresistibly _soft_ , outlined gentle looking features on a pale face with dark brown eyes. He was smiling softly; a look that Jisung knew was mirroring on his own face, and the two stood, still; stationary; as the dust settled, painting them vivid, bright colours matching the festival around them.

But Jisung could hear no music anymore; was unaware of his surroundings as his soulmate laughed aloud in pure joy and held up his hand- for he was holding a delicate flower crown between his fingers- and gently placed it onto Jisung’s blue strands, hands sliding down from his hair to cup his face in wonder.

Jisung was _mesmerised._

Both of them had yet to speak a word when Jisung’s- still nameless- soulmate took him by the hand, lacing their fingers together and started to dance to the music.

His surroundings came back to him at full force as Jisung remembered that _yes_ , he was still in the middle of a full-blown colour festival and _yes,_ he had found his _soulmate._

Jisung laughed with ecstasy as he followed his soulmate’s lead and allowed himself to be lead through the crowd by their interlinked hands, through an open alleyway and up some green painted stone steps, to a secluded balcony overlooking the festivities whilst flowers and vines hung over the roof of it.

Realising that he still didn’t know his soulmate’s name, Jisung spoke up in Korean, hoping that his visual ethnicity would match the language he spoke.

“Hello,” he whispered.

Two brown orbs sparkled in adoration. “Hello.”

“I’m Han Jisung… and you are?”

“Your soulmate, and already completely infatuated with you.”

Jisung laughed again and pouted, watching his soulmate relent immediately.

“Lee Minho.”

“Minho,” Jisung breathed, trying the name out on his tongue.

“That’s right, angel,” Minho murmured, watching Jisung blush with adoration. “Well, I must confess that I was not in any way expecting such a cutie to be my soulmate. Looks like I hit the jackpot,” he carried on, tucking a strand of hair behind Jisung’s ear as the younger blushed pink and looked down. Minho chuckled. “Soft.”

“BITCH WHAT THE FUCK? CHAN, LOOK, LEE FUCKING MINHO IS JISUNG’S SOULMATE, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES-“

Both boys looked up from their personal bubble and their heads whipped around in unison to search for the source of their interruption.

“Felix, why-“ Jisung began, before a wild Chan jumped out of nowhere and clamped a hand over Felix’s mouth, dragging him away.

“Carry on, have your moment, take as long as you want to, I’ll keep this one in check, congratulations,” he winked, before hauling Felix away and back into the crowds of the festival below them.

Jisung found that he could not stop laughing, little giggles leaving his lips sounding like music to Minho’s ears at the image of Chan finally having control over the excitable fortnite player.

“So… we have the rest of our lives together. Where do you wanna start?” Jisung asked, eyes sparkling with adventure and life.

Minho beamed and slid his arms around Jisung’s waist. “Let’s start with a dance.”

***

**(One year later)**

Minho heaved out an exhausted sigh as he dragged the last large box through the door; a smile illuminating his face as he took in the messier-than-ever apartment. The apartment that Jisung had been living in for the past four years; and now, Minho was living there too. Wasting no time in forgetting the boxes, Minho walked straight into his and Jisung’s- now shared- bedroom and slung his arms around his soulmate’s waist, burying his nose into Jisung’s hair and inhaling the comforting, familiar scent there.

They had worked hard to redecorate the room; painting the walls a pastel yellow colour, installing light green curtains and making sure to buy tiny potted plants to line the chests of drawers and windowsill with. It was colourful; reminded them of the festival; their first union. It was perfect.

“That’s the last of the boxes, baby,” Minho announced, voice muffled as he took in a mouth of Jisung’s hair by mistake, which was hastily spat out again.

Jisung chuckled warmly and squirmed around in his lover’s hold, pushing his face into the crook of Minho’s neck. “We did it.”

“We did it,” Minho sighed in disbelief. “Exactly one year later and we’re all domestic and living together. Felix would be disgusted.”

“Felix is just jealous,” Jisung announced, thinking back to all the times Felix had relentlessly teased the couple for their closeness and domesticity. Just you wait, Lee Felix.

Minho sighed and jostled his shoulder, dislodging Jisung's head from his shoulder and making the younger look up at him.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

"Happy anniversary, Sungie."

And as their lips met, pressed together in the comforting way that had become routine to the two over the past year, the two melted into each other; lips warm and sure of their movements; gentle caresses comforting and loving. Through the relief of the aspect that the two no longer had to be separated by their jobs and needs to be in their own homes in different countries; the relief that they were not reunited, never to be separated; the relief of simply being by each other’s sides again, only one thought was clear in any of their minds.

_They were home._

**Author's Note:**

> WABAM. I have an idea for the Woochan and Changlix sides of this particular soulmate AU, so keep an eye out for a series.   
> Please let me know what you all thought, I love hearing feedback and thrive off attention!  
> Love you all, have an amazing week!  
> One kudos= one frog hopping around in my mind lake :DD


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